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The Rogue Asylum
An overview of the ship that the characters of our steam-punk western campaign call home. A Brief History The Rogue Asylum has a strange history that began nearly 40 years ago. During the Great Civil War, air combat technologies advanced at an astounding rate. As royal and federal technomancers and engineers worked around the clock to create and produce new air ship designs to gain a tactical advantage over the other side, air ship engagements become increasingly important to maintain control of highly contested territories with rapidly changing battle lines during the most heating periods of the conflict. Logistically, keeping these ships fuelled and well supplied become just as important as the battle worthiness of these ship designs. About a dozen specialized federal ships were produced during the Great Civil War to meet the demands of long-term air engagements. These ships were classified as Mark II Strato-Carriers, a specialized form of carrier designed to transport fuel and supplies undetected to critical engagements in aerospace by flying at high altitidues that most air ships are not capable of. Not particularly nimble or fast (in fact these carriers proved to be slow and not manueverable) they were designed to withstand the rigors of travelling through the planet's unpredictable fierce and powerful weather at high altitudes. The Strato-Carriers' hulls were designed to be pressurized to protect their crew from the thin atmosphere and bolted with thick plates of steel to hold them together through fierce wind storms, which also proved to be a highly effective defense against smaller ship-to-ship weapons. Measuring at about 175 feet in length, 48 feet wide, and 40 feet high, the ship comprised nearly 10,000 square footage (about the size of a large floating mansion) and an impressive maximum cargo capacity of 810 metric tons. These ships were usually piloted by a small highly skilled crew, and were designed to dock with the larger battleships of the day and use the battleship's garrison to quickly unload the payload of coal, ammunition, and supplies. They proved to be effective during the Great Civil War, but were decomissioned and disassembled shortly after the Mining Colony Revolt. They were deemed to be made obsolete by military doctrine changes which called for the production of low altitude fleet carriers that were cheaper to produce in greater numbers needed to maintain supply lines of the newly formed Confederate empire. As for the Mark II Strato-Carriers, their parts and metal being used for scrap to create new ships needed for a different kind of carrier that was capable of transporting goods to the distant moon. All but one of them anyway. The Rogue was the last of her kind, privately auctioned off to a land baron by the name of Joseph Belfry before the rest of her class was hauled off and taken apart for scrap. Belfry was a ruthless wealthy business man and entrepenuer that specialized in land developement on the Lonely Island, land mostly gained through heavy handed tactics. He heavily modified the ship for his own purposes, adding extensive living quarters which took up about half of the existing cargo hold space, and used her as his personal floating mansion. Belfry used the Rogue extensively, hosting wild parties and closing tense business deals alike within the confines of her hull. He maintained her well enough during his early successful years, but did not plan well for the lean times that were ahead. As the Mining Revolt came to an end, many businesses were squeezed and wiped out as military contracts abruptly came to an end. The relatively new powerhouse company, the Khandor Corporation, using it's new found economic muscle backed by a secure rare ore operation on the moon colony and political power gained by supporting the Confederacy during the conflict, quickly crushed and absorbed most of the other major business players. Belfry quickly found himself on the wrong end of the Khandor Corporation as he declined to sell out his holdings at a fraction of their value. Within a year, the once powerful land baron found himself with barely enough assets to maintain a modest home within the core lands. Continually denied for loans by banks and investors who didn't want to have anything to do with him after being black listed by the Corporation, Belfry became increasingly desperate to gain some collateral to start a new business venture involving technomancy development and get back into the game. It was through this desperation (perhaps fate some might say) that drove Baron Belfry to get involved in a high stakes gambling card tournament using the only valuable asset he had maintained through the hostile Corporation takeover, a Mark II Strato-Carrier. At the same time, it came to be that the disillusioned and dishonorably discharged 2nd Lieutenant Wilkes Anderson was near the end of his rope, having scraped together the last of his credits to buy entry into a high stakes non-limit underground poker tournament. Playing like a possessed madman with nothing to lose, the captain's loose and aggressive card playing smashed through the ranks of competitors and landed him a spot up at the final table alongside none other than Baron Belfry. As the other players were knocked out, Anderson and Belfry found themselves going head to head in a tense heads up match as each man tried to ferret through the other man's plays. Losing his patience after several hours of play against the cool headed conservative Belfry, Anderson found himself going all in with a full house of Jacks full of Queens with over half of the total chips at stake. Unfortuately, Belfry had quietly laid his trap as he had underplayed his hand, holding Aces full of Queens. What appeared to be a sure win for Belfry, quickly rounded back into Anderson's favor as the river card revealed another Jack. Belfry quickly found himself ruined and faded into obscurity. Anderson quickly took possession of the Mark II Strato-Carrier and a paltry sum of credits after winning the tournament. Much to his dismay, almost all of the assets backed into Belfry's name for the tournament were tied up in the rusting and neglected Carrier. The hosts of the tournament, several groups of shady and illicit criminals and robber barons, wouldn't cash out the asset and Wilkes was in no position to argue with them. And so Wilkes found himself stranded and stuck with a large carrier that could barely fly. Frustrated beyond all rationality, Wilkes drank himself into a stupor at one of the local mechanics bars at the outside of the scrap compound where his "winnings" was docked. It was at this local dive that he ran into a masterful mechanic by the name of Gene Blackman. Gene, having just been laid off from his employer after the government ended all private contracts for ship repairs and maintenance, couldn't help but overhear the captain mumbling to himself about his rotten luck and trying to figure out how to sell that rusty buck of Mark II Strato-crap. Gene, having heard about a man winning the card tournament in town and gaining ownership of the relic, offered his services to Wilkes Gene - "If the pay is good, I'd be delighted to get her running in tip top shape Captain! You are the Captain of that fine vessel aren't you?" Wilkes - "Captain? What? Wait I like the sound of that... Captain Anderson. Yes, yes *burp* you've found the right man. So lets talk about that so called "fine vessel". Why the hell not? I've got nothing else going for me right now. You're either stupid, crazy, or one talented son of a bitch if you think you can get her flying well again." Gene - "Well, Captain Anderson, what shall we call her? Ship's gotta have a name right? I can't get all personal with her inner workings until I know her name right? Hah!" Wilkes - "Hrm... she's a rogue alright. Probably been through some shady dealings I imagine with that hard case batshit Belfry. Speaking of which, you're pretty damn crazy to think you can put her back together and get her humming like a thoroughbred. Actually, come to think of it, anyone who wants to work on that rusty bucket of bolts is crazy. Just imagine Gene, she'll be a regular floating asylum in the skies. The Rogue Asylum... hrm... that name is as good as any I suppose." Since that fateful day, the ship has undergone further mechanical modifications by Gene and had technomancy sensors added on board by the late Phillip, as well as having a rag tag band of misfits added on board that comprise the salty crew. Many years and about a hundred odd jobs and dangerous missions later, she's still flying. And as they say, the rest is history. *Interesting fact* The picture of the rogue asylum was created by tweaking and photo shopping a model of the ironclad Merrimack, one of two ships (the other being the Monitor) involved in the first ironclad battle of the American Civil War. HERO Ship Statistics Rogue Asylum ' ' ''' '''Movement: Flight: 7" / 28" 'Total Powers & Skill Cost: 147 ' 'Total Cost: 252 ' 'Total Disadvantage Points: 252 '